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The failure of self-checkout technology

bbc.com

91–100 of 621 posts

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#91
It always seemed like a huge disconnect that retailers were expanding self checkout and cutting hours, at the same time that they were complaining about higher shrink rates.

While I often prefer self checkout for small purchases, the counter-shrink measures at make the entire experience worse -- locked up products, weird checkpoints after you finish purchasing, etc.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#92
I love self-checkout, honestly. Machines need to improve, but still. There's a store here where u simply DROP all items in the self-checkout basket, and it automatically computes everything! I suspect it uses NFC or similar, but it works, and its wonderful, simply drop everything in! And wait, there's more: did I say drop everything in? I meant, the bag you are using to hold everything? just put it in that basket, insert your CC and it's done. You don't get easier than that... So yes, let's keep self-checkout, and focus on improving it!

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#95
Back in 2006 IBM already had predicted how self- checkout should work[1].

Their TV ad made was so cool, so well done and so "I want to live in this world" that became one of my favorites even today:

https://youtu.be/wzFhBGKU6HA

[1]https://mashable.com/article/ibm-predicts-amazon-go

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#96
post #92

I love self-checkout, honestly. Machines need to improve, but still. There's a store here where u simply DROP all items in the self-checkout basket, and it automatically computes everything! I suspect it uses NFC or similar, but it works, and its wonderful, simply drop everything in! And wait, there's more: did I say drop everything in? I meant, the bag you are using to hold everything? just put it in that basket, in…

I'm sure that's great, but it's a bit impractical for groceries. Even the relatively small cost of an NFC tag is going to be a real problem given how thin most groceries' margins are (and how cheap small amounts of food can be, even now).

But groceries are one of the best examples of where this would be a big time-saver.

I will say that I really do prefer self-check in convenience stores, where a big purchase is three or four items. But for groceries... it's too much if you're actually doing a big shopping day.

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#97

> The biggest problem is theft. Not only is it easy to steal from self-checkout machines, it can be hard not to steal from them. This is me. At a Walmart this weekend the machine booped instead of beeped, and I didn't get that meant it didn't scan, and dropped the item into a bag. An employee was watching and swooped right in and fixed it. But paying that much attention meant that she might as well have checked me ou…

Around here, whenever there's any sort of problem with self checkout, the employees don't even try to diagnose the problem. They're not paid enough to bother. Recently, a self checkout machine started beeping because I had used an e-coupon that exceeded the total price of all the items by a couple of pennies. It appeared to generate a receipt, but still wanted me to wait. Cashier comes over, looks at the receipt, enters something into the machine, says it's fine, waves me out. I look at the receipt more closely when I get to the car: it literally says "transaction canceled" on the bottom. Not only was my purchase "free", but the electronic coupon was still good!

Re: The failure of self-checkout technology

#100

> The biggest problem is theft. Not only is it easy to steal from self-checkout machines, it can be hard not to steal from them. This is me. At a Walmart this weekend the machine booped instead of beeped, and I didn't get that meant it didn't scan, and dropped the item into a bag. An employee was watching and swooped right in and fixed it. But paying that much attention meant that she might as well have checked me ou…

Around here, whenever there's any sort of problem with self checkout, the employees don't even try to diagnose the problem. They're not paid enough to bother. Recently, a self checkout machine started beeping because I had used an e-coupon that exceeded the total price of all the items by a couple of pennies. It appeared to generate a receipt, but still wanted me to wait. Cashier comes over, looks at the receipt, ent…

And do you really think that would have been different at a full service check out? It’s the same person who still wouldn’t care.
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